BICOM

The Israeli Labour Party yesterday published a long-term plan to separate from the Palestinians and agree deals with moderate Arab states.

Labour leader Avi Gabbay said the plan aimed to secure: “A broad regional arrangement with the moderate Arab states, separation from the Palestinians, and a secure State of Israel with a solid Jewish majority and a demilitarised Palestinian state alongside it.”

The party admitted that “this future vision is not attainable” in the near future and that “Israel must therefore take a political turn, to pave new paths to separation from the Palestinians, build trust between the sides, and reverse current trends that endanger Israel”.

The plan includes an end to building outside of settlement blocs, legislation to compensate settlers living outside the bloc to relocate, and a referendum on the future status of Palestinian neighbourhoods on the outskirts of Jerusalem. The plan said that in order to preserve Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish people, Israel must make a decision “regarding the future of these camps and villages”. It said “the current situation hurts Jerusalem and must be changed”.

Naftali Bennett and Tamar Zandberg have both called on the Trump administration to release the details of its plan for Israeli-Palestinian talks. Bennett said that Israelis “are in the dark about it”. He described President Donald Trump as “a genuine friend of Israel” but added that “friends don’t keep secrets from one another”. “A process is taking place that will change the face of the State of Israel and could spell disaster for us in the form of the establishment of the State of Palestine”, Bennett said.

Zandberg agreed that the citizens of Israel: “Deserve to know what kind of agreement will be put on the table.” She said that “the most important thing in the next government’s policy will be immediately promoting peace”.

On Monday, Jared Kushner told Sky News Arabia the US plan will address all core issue of the conflict and stressed that the US wants to see “Palestinians under one leadership that will allow them to live in dignity”. According to Kan Radio, citing Palestinian newspaper al-Quds, the plan will only provide Palestinians with autonomy. The plan proposes that Israel will grant the Palestinians freedom of movement and trade but retain security control and control over settlement blocs. Isolated settlements will be removed and between 30-60,000 Palestinian refugees will return to Gaza or the West Bank.